Monthly Archives: September 2014

Most of us a familiar with the “five stages of grief,” as outlined by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. One step is ‘bargaining’–an understandable though illogical attempt to control the situation by cutting a last-minute deal, usually with God.

The idea that “Climate science is settled” runs through today’s popular and policy discussions. Unfortunately, that claim is misguided. It has not only distorted our public and policy debates on issues related to energy, greenhouse-gas emissions and the environment. But it also has inhibited the scientific and policy discussions that we need to have about our climate future.

My training as a computational physicist—together with a 40-year career of scientific research, advising and management in academia, government and the private sector—has afforded me an extended, up-close perspective on climate science. Detailed technical discussions during the past year with leading climate scientists have given me an even better sense of what we know, and don’t know, about climate. I have come to appreciate the daunting scientific challenge of answering the questions that policy makers and the public are asking.

The fight for access to public information has never been harder, Associated Press Washington Bureau Chief Sally Buzbeesaid recently at a joint meeting of the American Society of News Editors, the Associated Press Media Editors and the Associated Press Photo Managers. The problem extends across the entire federal government and is now trickling down to state and local governments.

AP Washington Bureau Chief Sally Buzbee (AP Photo).

Here is Buzbee’s list of eight ways the Obama administration is making it hard for journalists to find information and cover the news:

1) As the United States ramps up its fight against Islamic militants, the public can’t see any of it. News organizations can’t shoot photos or video of bombers as they take off — there are no embeds. In fact, the administration won’t even say what country the S. bombers fly from.

The two members of the Benghazi Annex Security team who disobeyed stand down orders to rush to the sound of guns on 9/11/2012, joined Sean Hannity on Fox, Wednesday night, to talk about their new book, “13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi.”

Mark Geist and Kris Paronto were asked by Hannity to respond to Democrat members of Congress who have essentially accused them of lying because they say that the stand-down order was never given. This issue may be key as to what exactly was going on that night. There is something very fishy about the Democrats’ refusal to admit the truth, here.

Congressmen Smith and Schiff have both heard closed door testimony in which the security team members made the same assertions about the stand down order, and yet in front of the cameras, they…

It’s dangerous to make absolute statements like that in politics and it’s absolutely foolish for a Republican POTUS to make these bold statements when he had a Democrat controlled House and Senate to ‘work’ with for the next 4 years.

As we all know, in 1990 Bush had to compromise with the House and Senate and raise existing taxes. True, this compromise didn’t result in ‘new’ taxes but we all knew what Bush meant and the MSM had a field day with that 1988 clip. After that debacle, Bush didn’t have a chance in the 1992 Presidential election.

Fast forward to today – Did Obama just have his own “Read My Lips” moment?

Congressman Trey Gowdy runs the House Select Committee trying to get to the bottom of what happened in Benghazi.

He posed 7 questions to the media:

“I’m not telling you how to do your job, but I’m going to ask you some questions, and if you can’t answer these questions, then I’ll leave you to draw whatever conclusions you want to draw about whether the media has provided sufficient oversight:

Can you tell me why [Ambassador] Chris Stevens was in Benghazi that night he was killed? Do you know? Does it bother you whether or not you know why Chris Stevens was in Benghazi?

Do you know why we were the last flag flying in Benghazi, after the British had left and the Red Cross had been bombed?

Do you know why requests for additional security were denied? Do you know why an ambassador asking for more…

In Bush’s case, the networks routinely highlighted his falling approval ratings to illustrate his political weakness, and regularly cited polling data showing public disapproval of policies such as the Iraq war. This year, even as President Obama has suffered his own political meltdown, the networks have spared him from such coverage.